Book Life: The Last Days of Cafe Leila

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Donia Bijan at lunch today. She owned my favorite restaurant in days gone by (L’Amie Donia,) but has moved on to writing. Although I miss her cooking, I am grateful her creative energy has found a new path! This is a charming, but honest book about mothers and daughters, daughters and fathers, immigrants and refugees. Based in San Francisco and the author’s native Iran, it explores family relationships in a vanishing world. I think this is a perfect fall read with beautiful prose and deep currents.

Donia Bijan

To learn more about this sparkly lady, here is her interview on the Huffington Post.